Dr. Dean Patterson, a consultant cardiologist in Guernsey, has been dismissed from his partnership at the Medical Specialist Group (MSG) following his public concerns about potential links between COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis. Patterson had described as a notable rise in myocarditis. He claimed local figures of 5 cases in 2020 (pre-vaccine rollout), 25 in 2021, and 22 in 2022. Moreover, numbers declined as vaccinations tapered, he stated emphasizing that he was not anti-vaccine but sought open scientific debate and that other healthcare professionals feared reprisal for raising safety signals.
Speaking to ITV Channel in 2024, he said: “People think I must have come to this conclusion just like that, but I haven’t. It’s been running on guts, instinct at first, not being quite happy, trying to speak to people, then hoping to prove myself wrong. I think the scientific debate has been stifled. People and doctors have been threatened and lost their jobs, I’ve had nursing staff at the hospital contact me and say they can’t speak out because of disciplinaries.”
Eventually,Guernsey authorities commissioned an independent review by the Royal College of Physicians in late 2024 to check Patterson’s patient data for vaccine-related cardiac risks. The review found no substantiation for the scale of concerns Patterson had voiced. However, it uncovered unspecified “issues” that prompted MSG’s internal probe on patient safety grounds. Patterson had not treated MSG patients since February 2025, yet remained a partner until March 2026, when MSG ended his tenure after parallel internal processes concluded, separate from but informed by a still ongoing UK General Medical Council (GMC) investigation. The GMC had imposed a 12-month interim suspension of his license in February 2026, which Patterson is appealing, barring him from UK or Guernsey practice in the interim.
The MSG’s dismissal announcement on March 19, 2026, centred on patient safety and the review’s lack of support for his claims, without detailing specific allegations amid the GMC fitness-to-practise case. Local media framed it as a sacking tied to his vaccine critique, highlighting tensions over suppressed debate. MSG assured continuity via other cardiologists, reassigning patients, while the full review, precise issues, and the GMC outcomes all remain undisclosed.
The way I see it, this story might be a textbook example of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to listen more often to information that confirms our existing beliefs. Through this bias, people tend to favor information that reinforces the things they already think or believe.
It happens to us all: you drive your car through town and have to stop twice at a red light; subsequently you get the feeling that most trafic lights see you coming and turn red to annoy you. In fact, you only notice the red lights and forget about the many green ones that you passed.
Patterson seemed to have noticed one or two unusual cases which sensitised him to find more that seemed similar. Clinicians’ judgements are often biased in this way. In other words, the story could serve as a reminder that we need proper science rather than huntches to guide our decisions.
3 Responses to Dr. Dean Patterson, who raised the suspicion of a possible link between COVID-19 vaccine and heart problems, has been sacked
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There’s almost certainly more to this than meets the i-sland.
How findings are presented (professionally, scientifically etc.) is as important as the findings.
From what I understand, there is a kernel of truth in the claim that COVID vaccination increases the risk of myocarditis, BUT:
– The risk is elevated only for male adolescents and young adults,
– The risk increase (relative risk) is modest compared to the background rate of myocarditis,
– This form of myocarditis itself is almost always benign and self-limiting,
and last but not least:
– An actual COVID infection comes with a much higher risk of myocarditis, and this form of myocarditis is also significantly more dangerous.
So even if this Dr. Patterson noticed a real increase in myocarditis (which is unlikely for several reasons), then getting vaccinated was still far less risky than getting infected with COVID.
To put it differently: it is OK to point out any risks associated with vaccination – but it is absolutely NOT OK to then leave out the fact that not getting vaccinated comes with a much higher risk.
“The way I see it, this story might be a textbook example of confirmation bias.”
Another case in point. MDs are not necessarily scientists steeped in critical thinking principles, or just good critical thinkers, period.